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Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Rouge Et Noir...

Rouge Et Noir..., watercolor on paper, 12" x 15"While painting Russian illustrations, you become acutely aware of national color combinations. In Russian folk art, red, yellow and green are used over and over. When I think of France I seebleu. But this October Paris windows and streets were full of red and black. Hediard is the classic example of a red and black brand, that just always looks tres classe. Galeries Lafayette knows how to throw around red and black and there was plenty in their windows. Other windows too were pairing these two up. The classic black French wine bottle with the red capsule is always a standard of elegance. No one does it better. Lots of the Paris cafés are done up totally in black, but can you count the number of people wearing touches of red with their black outfits to add some zip? I'm convinced this all-red café is saving itself for those customers wearing onlyBLACK!

That really is an interesting observation, and dead on, about different cultures and their use of color. I enjoyed that. Love this latest pomegranate and tin painting...lovely. Thanks for the spots of color--it's pure white with snow here in Colorado today!

red & black are my fav. combination. Used it for an album cover etc. Even as a kid I had a room with it... it had a black and white tiled floor ( like a chess set) with a bed spread the same..looked like the floor ran over the bed.. it was VERY cool.. ( well.. for a young guy)

PARIS in yr Mailbox!

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5 and I'm still at it. Now I live by the Seine on l'Ile Saint-Louis. Do consider subscribing to my Paris letters and maps on Etsy and enjoy a taste of Paris in your mailbox every month to savor with a hot chocolate and croissant. I paint Paris dreams.